APRIL  2010       TRANSPORTATION  ~~~  ANIMALS IN THE WILD
Text Box: TTh class Text Box: Trains, Planes, Automobiles— Get your ticket now! Our new theme is transportation, and we look at the various ways to move from one place to another. Being Northwesterners, of course we include walking and biking. Can you think of other ways to get around? We also talk about where we’ve been and how we got thee, so we can make a graph about our own travel. This might be a good conversation-starter at home to remind your children of the many places—near and far—that they have travelled. Text Box: Our next unit, Animals in the Wild, helps the children appreciate many of the wonderful creatures around our world and the environments in which they are found. With spring coming, you might want to take a family trip to Woodland Park Zoo to add a first-hand experience to your child’s learning! Text Box: Goals - We are working on & seeing progress with: Identifying feelings in ourselves and in others Dressing independently (putting on coats, pant zippers, shoes—thank goodness for Velcro!) Text Box: LOOKING AHEAD— We hope to see you at our MARCH 20TH GALA TWILIGHT IN TUSCANY AUCTION ! School Food Drive—3/8-19—to benefit HopeLink. Spring break is 3/29—4/2. KIDS’ TIME will be Sat. 4/10. Sign-up starting 3/22. Plan for our annual fieldtrip to Farrel McWhirter Park on Thursday 4/29. Class times are changed, so please mark your calendars. Everyone meets at the Park at 12:00, with picnic lunches, & we’ll say good-bye at 2:30. We picked these times, so most of the older siblings in the TWTh classes can also come. (More information will cone with the next calendar.)

WHY WE “DO MATH” USING THINGS FROM THE CHILDREN”S LIVES— Learning most often starts with connections building upon familiar things—think of block building.  You might be able to suspend a new block in mid-air, but the most successful method is careful scaffolding with the new block.  So when we make a graph about ways these children have travelled, the concepts of “more/less” and consecutive counting take on a personal interest, which provides that mental scaffolding.